Hormone Dependent Disorders (HDD) can be separated in benign and malignant diseases. In women major benign disorders are endometriosis, adenomyosis, and fibroids. Important malignant diseases are breast cancer and endometrium cancer in women and prostate cancer in men.

Currently Pantarhei Bioscience is developing new treatments for breast cancer, prostate cancer and endometriosis:

• Estetrol for treatment of breast cancer and prostate cancer.
• Treatment of endometriosis with an androgen/ estrogen/progestogen combination.

Hormone dependent cancers of the breast are in most cases estrogen dependent. Because of the seriousness of this disease, the side effects of hormonally induced estrogen deficiency by estrogen antagonists or estrogen suppressors such as aromatase inhibitors are acceptable but often quality of life decreases considerably. Therefore, alternative pharmacological treatments causing less side effects are needed.

For prostate cancer high dose estrogens have been used in the past for the hormonal treatment of prostate cancer, but were abandoned because of serious side effects such as breast development, venous thromboembolic events and subjective complaints. The emerging profile of E4 suggests that it may be suitable for treatment of this disease.  

Endometriosis is a disease caused by the presence of functioning endometrium outside its normal location in the uterus, causing (low) abdominal pain, pain during sexual intercourse, irregular and abundant vaginal bleeding, painful menses and infertility. Currently no long term drug treatment is available.

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